The Philanthropy Workshop

"TPW gave me the blueprint for starting my foundation. It wasn't just important, it was invaluable."

Increasing Your Impact in Philanthropy

You care passionately about an issue and want to create real change. You want to maximise the impact of your philanthropic giving.

But how? What are the best techniques and models? What is the latest thinking from around the globe? How can you connect with others facing the same challenges and learn from their experience?

It was to address these questions that The Philanthropy Workshop, or TPW, was founded. Established by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1995, and now a project of the Institute for Philanthropy's London and New York offices, it is the first and the best port of call for individuals who have just sold a company, launched their own giving programme or have inherited a leadership role in their family's trust.

Strategic philanthropy is a rigorous discipline, requiring an excellent grounding in both theory and practice. In a cohort of up to 14 participants you will attend three one-week modules over the course of a year, one in Europe, one in the United States and one in the developing world.

Within a confidential forum of fellow philanthropists, you will acquire the knowledge and skills you need to achieve impact in your giving.

The Philanthropy Workshop: Three Modules

Module I:

Developing a Framework for Strategic Philanthropy
Based on decades of grant-making experience, TPW guides you through every step of strategy formulation, from defining the problem that you want to tackle all the way to evaluating the impact of your grants. The module also offers case studies, site visits, peer discussions and skills-building sessions, including how to identify lead organisations in your area of interest, how to structure philanthropic investments, how to assess the health of non-profit organisations and how to craft a communications strategy around your giving. Module 1 provides a practical introduction to, and conceptual framework for, your strategic philanthropy.

Module II:

Collaborating Across Borders: Global Philanthropy
In Module II you apply the strategic framework to a challenging international setting; meeting with leading social innovators and visiting organisations crafting solutions to social issues in rural and urban settings. The module offers a unique and hands-on field learning experience, allowing you to consider philanthropy's role in supporting development and how to transfer innovation across borders. In the past TPW has held its second module in, among other countries, Vietnam, Ghana, South Africa, and Brazil.

For an insight into the issues we look at on the second module of TPW, please see the reading lists from previous modules: click here.

Module III:

Putting Strategic Philanthropy into Action
Module III continues to build on the leadership and strategic grant-making
skills of participants: focusing on questions of advocacy, coalition-building and collaboration, it explores the role of philanthropy in public policy and civic life. Skills-building sessions include advanced due diligence, evaluation and supporting leadership. As the culmination of the workshop, participants present and defend a proposal that they are planning to fund or a broader funding strategy that they intend to implement. This exercise allows participants to hone their grant-making and anchor their philanthropy in a strategic framework while receiving feedback and thoughtful analysis from their fellow participants.

The Philanthropy Workshop: Participants' Profile

Typically, participants in The Philanthropy Workshop are entrepreneurs and inheritors who are increasingly dedicating their time and capital to Philanthropy. The Philanthropy Workshop accepts applications from philanthropists of all ages and with all levels of experience. It has been of most value to individuals with the will and creativity to be philanthropic innovators and leaders.

The network of The Philanthropy Workshop is global with participants from North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Given the scope of the programme's objectives and the importance of teamwork, participants are expected to make a serious commitment to The Philanthropy Workshop. Its very nature demands that participants stretch themselves, whether they are involved in discussions with people from different cultures, or collaborating with other group members to develop solutions to grant making cases.

Indeed, The Philanthropy Workshop is designed for people who believe that there is virtue not simply in giving money away, but in the pursuit of giving it away well.

The Philanthropy Workshop: Dates, Cost and Contact

The dates for the programme are:

COHORT 20:

Module 1: London, 6th - 11th October 2013
Module 2: Indonesia, 9th - 14th March 2014
Module 3: New York, 11th - 16th May 2014

The cost for the programme is US$ 30,000 or its equivalent in local currency. Participants are also responsible for their personal expenses, including airfare, hotel accommodation and certain meals. Tuition for the programme is non-refundable.

The application process consists of submitting a brief personal biography, a letter of intent and an interview. We encourage interested parties to apply as early as possible, as places fill up quickly.

If you would like to find out more, please contact tpw@instituteforphilanthropy.org or on Tel: +44 (0)20 7240 0262 in the UK or on Tel: +1 212 513 0020 in the US.